A new year, a new Congress, and the 113th Congress is the most diverse yet. Despite all the new faces, many early items of legislative business are old ones -- and ones which could come with old battles. Takeaway Washington Correspondent Todd Zwillich explains what's in store for the 113th Congress.

After passing the Senate 89-8, the House approved the fiscal cliff compromise negotiated by Vice President Joe Biden and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, concluding a battle over fiscal policy that's lasted two years. Takeaway Washington correspondent Todd Zwillich has been following the deal.

Takeaway Washington Correspondent Todd Zwillich takes a look at the latest news on the fiscal cliff negotiations, and updates us on the condition of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton after she was admitted to a New York hospital due to a blood clot. 

With only five days left in 2012, lawmakers are back in Washington, D.C. today to continue talks on the fiscal cliff. Before the Christmas break, House Speaker John Boehner pulled Plan B off the table. 

What's the best holiday song? Ryan Roche picks Put the Lights on the Tree by Sufjan Stevens. Bobby Birch nominates Josh Groban's Oh Holy Night. The worst? Well, we'll just say that Paul McCartney made the list.

Following the murders of two additional vaccine workers in Pakistan, the United Nations has announced that they will suspend the program. Declan Walsh has been following the story for The New York Times.

Takeaway Washington correspondent Todd Zwillich has the latest on potential gun control legislation in Congress, with the death of the Senate's most senior member, more on the Hurricane Sandy relief bill, South Carolina’s new Senator, John Kerry for Secretary of State, and the fiscal cliff.

Last week's school shooting in Newtown has sparked a debate on gun control, with many arguing within hours and days that the massacre should be politicized to prevent similar events from happening again. Todd Zwillich, Takeaway Washington correspondent, weighs the possibility of anything happening in Congress or the White House. Representative Carolyn McCarthy has been a vocal advocate of gun control for nearly two decades.

If Washington can’t reach a compromise over the debt ceiling by mid-February or early-March, things are going to look an awful lot like they did in 2011 when the country was on the brink of default. The Takeaway's Washington correspondent Todd Zwillich explains.

The chorus of Republicans supporting tax increases on the rich is getting louder, with Republican Senator Bob Corker from Tennessee recently jumping on board, along with Republican Senator Tom Coburn of Oklahoma. Todd Zwillich, Washington correspondent for The Takeaway, explains.

With the election behind us and several new Democrats on their way to Washington, Senate majority leader Harry Reid intends to push controversial filibuster reform through Congress. But in order to do that, he’ll have to convince some fellow Democrats who are currently on the fence. Takeaway Washington Correspondent Todd Zwillich explains. 

On Monday, Majority Leader John Boehner introduced a $2.2 trillion plan to avoid the fiscal cliff. President Obama and the Democrats are looking to cut $600 billion in spending, with $1.6 trillion in tax increases, primarily through increasing taxes on Americans earning more than $250,000 per year. Takeaway Washington correspondent Todd Zwillich explains the latest on the fiscal cliff negotiations, and Diane Lim, chief economist at the Concord Coalition, analyzes the economic details.

What is the difference between the fiscal cliff and the threat of the government shut-down, last year? What are the chances that Congress will do nothing more than change the January 1, 2013 deadline? What will the fiscal cliff mean for my federal student loans? Takeaway listeners wrote in with these and other questions about the fiscal cliff. Washington correspondent Todd Zwillich is here with the answers. 

Broken pledges — that's the story this week in Washington as several Republican lawmakers begin backtracking from a pledge to not raise taxes they signed with Grover Norquist and the Americans for Tax Reform. Todd Zwillich, The Takeaway's Washington correspondent, has been following the story.

Big-money politics and Thanksgiving have a lot more in common than the presidential turkey pardoning. Todd Zwillich, Takeaway Washington correspondent, explains.

The big issue facing Congress as it gets back to work is the so-called 'fiscal cliff.' To that extent, nothing is going to get much of a look in unless a deal is reached on a range of laws which, if unchanged by the end of the year, will result in tax increases and massive spending cuts. Todd Zwillich, The Takeaway's Washington correspondent, explains.

General David Petraeus' storied career in public service came to a sudden end on Friday as the details of an affair with his biographer Paula Broadwell became known to the world. The general, who is credited with game-changing tenures in both Iraq and Afghanistan, had to resign his current post as director of the Central Intelligence Agency as details of an F.B.I. investigation revealed the affair.

Todd Zwillich, our Washington correspondent, was in the heart of the action last night at the Obama campaign headquarters in Chicago. The last time Renee Amore and Hermene Hartman spoke, Renee, who is the Deputy Chair of the Pennsylvania Republican State Committee, tried to convince Hermene to vote for Romney. Today, they discuss the outcome of ...

The president and his opponent are receiving most of America’s attention today. But there are crucial Senate races unfolding across the country with the power to swing control in either direction. Todd Zwillich, our Washington correspondent, is here to give an assessment.

In a state most pollsters considered off limits, Mitt Romney and the Republicans say they're playing Pennsylvania for keeps. Takeaway Washington correspondent Todd Zwillich headed back to one small corner, his home town of Hershey, in Central Pennsylvania, for one last battleground report.